In June 2017, Xi Jinping addressed the first meeting of the Central Commission for Military-Civilian Fusion Development (CCMCFD), a body established to oversee the integration of civilian and military technology sectors. Xi chaired the commission personally, alongside other Politburo Standing Committee members and senior military officials.
As documented by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the commission’s objective was to build China’s “national strategic system and capabilities” and overcome impediments to implementing the Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) strategy. Key technologies targeted under MCF included quantum computing, semiconductors, 5G, AI, and aerospace.
Separately, the 13th Five-Year Special Plan for Science and Technology Military-Civil Fusion Development, issued in 2017, included quantum communication and computing among priority strategic technologies for coordinated civilian-military R&D. The MCF strategy called for eliminating barriers between China’s civilian research and commercial sectors and its military and defense industrial sectors.